Tbilisi, Georgia ? Georgians have been panicked by a hoax television news program announcing the Russian army had invaded and killed President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief but bloody war in 2008, a conflict still fresh in the minds of Georgians who have since seen two de facto independent provinces erect firm borders.

The private television station Imedi — Georgia’s No. 3 channel — showed the faux report Saturday night.

A few media outlets picked up on the story, and the channel ran a ticker during an entertainment show stating the report “did not correspond with reality.”

Tbilisi resident Gocha Khachiuri, 43, said he had to take heart pills after hearing the news.